James Lawson is the head of a fancy marketing agency and my only chance at getting a job. All of the other companies I contacted didn’t bother to call me back. I suppose my resume wasn’t that impressive. Not surprising with it’s grand total of half a degree and two jobs including waitressing and three weeks as an office assistant at Bob’s Car Wash.
It’s hard not to stare so I focus my eyes on his tie instead. It’s a deep maroon color and there’s a silver thread running through it that makes it look expensive.
Everyone I’ve met since moving to the “big city” looks expensive.
“So, tell me about yourself, Cassandra.” James smiles kindly, folding his hands on top of his desk.
“Of course. Well, everyone calls me Casey. I just moved here from a little town called Gracewell, Virginia. I’m excited to finish my marketing degree and gain some valuable experience in the industry at the same time.”
He listens attentively to my well-rehearsed spiel and I can only hope he doesn’t notice that my voice shakes slightly. When I made the impromptu decision to move to Washington, D.C. I was high on adrenalin and humiliation. I have a knack for catastrophe and the past two years have been particularly brutal. Halfway through my college career, I was doing well, keeping my grades up and happy with my boyfriend. Until I discovered that the man I thought I was going to marry was already married to someone else.
All the stress affected my grades until I had to withdraw from school. My mom barely scraped together the money to send me in the first place, she definitely couldn’t afford to pay for classes that I wasn’t going to pass. At the time getting a job seemed like the best plan. Until my new boss heard the rumors about why I left school and figured I was fair game. When I rejected him, he told everyone I came on to him.
I guess when you have a reputation as a homewrecker, the truth no longer matters. People in Gracewell believe I had an affair with my boss and nothing, certainly not the truth, was going to convince them otherwise.
My shoulders slump slightly. Honestly, being this much of a fuck-up is kind of exhausting. Worse, was knowing that my mom had to hear those rumors. It wasn’t easy for her to return to her hometown, pregnant and unmarried and I think her worst nightmare is watching me go down the same path.
But that’s why I’m here. After two years of working at the diner, I enrolled in online classes and made a decision. I knew if I didn’t get out of Gracewell now, I’d end up settling down with one of the guys I went to high school with and finishing my degree would be just one more dream I never got to fulfill. I’m determined not to allow that to happen.
I’m twenty-three years old. It’s now or never.
“Well, I can see that you have some experience as an assistant and that you worked as a waitress through high school and for the past two years. So you have customer service experience. Excellent.”
I blink in surprise. It almost sounds like he’s helping me, spinning my sparse work experience to make it sound more impressive.
“Yes, I dealt with all types of people working at the diner. Most of them were regulars but we have a lot of truckers who would stop through as well. They had some of the best stories.”
James nods along enthusiastically. “Fantasti
c. That’s exactly what we need here at Mirage. A friendly face that can engage all of our different clients. We’d love for you to start right away, if that works for you?”
I nod in disbelief and before I can process what’s going on, he’s on his feet. Not sure exactly what’s happening, I stand awkwardly and grab my bag before following. The next ten minutes are a whirlwind of handshakes and smiles as James introduces me to Hannah from HR, and a bunch of other people whose names escape me.
“And now I’ll leave you with Anya who is going to handle your training.”
For a moment I just stand there with my mouth hanging open, trying to figure out what happened between sitting down for the interview and now.
“Are you okay?” Anya asks after I’ve been standing there blinking for a few moments.
“Yes. Just not sure if this is real. I didn’t think I’d actually get the job. I don’t have fancy experience, not the type I thought I’d need to work here.”
Anya’s smile softens. “I’ll tell you a little secret. We’ve had horrible luck with all the receptionists we hired through the temp agency. And all of those people had the “fancy” experience. I think James is just looking for someone who is not crazy and can work the phone system at this point.”
That makes me laugh. “I think the jury is still out on the not crazy part but the phone system, that I can handle.”
Anya crosses her arms. “I have a feeling you’re going to fit in really well here. Come on, I’ll introduce you around.”
I follow her in a daze, still not sure if this is really happening. Ever since I arrived in the city three days ago, it’s been one disappointment after the other. First the perfectly normal hotel I booked online turned out to be a crappy motel in what is apparently one of the worst neighborhoods in the city. I figured out just what kind of place it was on day one when I tried to leave my room and found a girl giving some guy a blow job. Just right there in the parking lot.
If it wasn’t so gross, I could almost be impressed. That lady clearly has skin of steel if she can handle kneeling on asphalt.
Then I got my next shock on day two when I attempted to visit the apartment listings I found online. It turns out that having the first and last month of rent isn’t good enough. They wanted recent pay stubs to prove that I had a job. Which leads me to today. This interview was super important because I needed a job to get out of the hellhole motel so I’d stayed up all night researching the Mirage agency and reviewing all my notes from my marketing classes. That explains why I overslept slightly and almost ran over that cute guy on the way here.
My face flushes again at the memory. He really had been cute which made the whole thing even more mortifying. Luckily he hadn’t seemed all that concerned about dropping his coffee or the huge brown stain it left all over his T-shirt. I would have offered to pay for the dry cleaning but considering how expensive everything is in the city, I probably couldn’t afford it.
You should have offered to pay. Then you would have had an excuse to get his number. Or give him yours.
No. I mentally shut that down. That’s the kind of thinking that always lands me in hot water. I’m here to get away from guy drama not create more.